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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

I know I owe you all a little update on our garage organization project that we started last year, but in all honestly, it is a construction zone disaster. Everything is still sitting in either just started or half-finished stages. And with temps remaining in the negatives for months at a time, we haven't been able to get much of anything accomplished in there.

That doesn't mean that I am not still making grand plans for the area for the second Spring makes an appearance. And in doing so, I found some absolutely amazing inspiration.

In typical Reader Space fashion, I asked Amanda a few "had to know" questions about her space.

Any superstar tips for keeping your garage organized?

"Well, I find it's easier to pick up and put up every day, rather than
waiting on a big old mess to pile up. So, we are in a pretty good
routine now for just putting our things back when we are done using
them. Come home from baseball? Hang up your bag. Finished up shooting
hoops in the driveway? Put away the ball. Hopped off the school bus?
Tuck your shoes away in your locker. It's not perfect every day, but
it's way WAY better than the piles of stuff we had to pick through
multiple times a day just to get out of the house."

What items did you find were essential when organizing the space, and why?"The single most important thing we did with this project was to take our
time and make a plan. We lived in the space for long enough to really
get a good list of our needs. We also spent a great deal of time
thinking about the next 5-10 years and what sorts of items we might need
to store {and not need to store} as the boys grow and our family
changes."

What did you do to go the extra mile and "Make it Pretty"?

"Well, that's just kind of my thing! I love pretty spaces and love
living in {really living... not just passing through} pretty spaces.
Just because it is a garage didn't mean it had to be completely
utilitarian in my mind. We enter our home through this space very close
to 100% of the time and our friends do the same. I wanted it to be tidy
and practical and cheerful to boot."

What items did you DIY to stay on a budget?

"Nearly the entire project was a DIY! My husband purchased the upper
cabinets and built everything else. We priced out garage organization
systems and came in at 1/4 of the price!"

How has this space impacted your life for the better?

"In all honesty, redoing the garage is second only to the basement in
improving the way we live in our home. It's a good feeling to come home
to everything in its place, and the boys love having their own little
lockers to store their things. Oh, and we can fit both of our cars in
the two car garage now - that was a pretty big thing too!"

It is amazing what some unfinished cabinets and a little imagination can dream up! Wall-to-wall lockers for the entire family to utilize and enjoy. I am over the moon for all of shoe storage below and all of the hooks above. This setup is such a great combination of open storage for the items used daily and concealed storage for less sightly items. I also adore that they thought to create a surface deep enough for a bench.

This also goes to show what some paint can do for a garage! Garages do not need to be ugly my friends. In fact, they are often times an extension of the home and the first area to greet you. It really brightened things up to have the cubbies painted in a beautiful neutral hue. And how welcoming is that fabulous door?

Lastly, Amanda's tip for keeping the garage orderly does not just have to apply to this area of the home. It applies to all areas. By really planning out proper storage that allows the process of putting things away to remain simple, the garage remains less cluttered and fewer piles will form. Her open lockers really do make putting things away easy breezy for the entire family.

And because I am a sucker for an incredible before and after...

A huge round of applause to Amanda and her husband for living with the space, doing some major planning and DIY'ing the garage of their dreams. And mine. You can find many more of the specifics and after photos on her blog here.

ATTENTION!! Want to be featured in a Reader Space edition? Have an awesome organizing story to share? I am looking for projects that have made a positive impact to your life, big or small. They can be anything from an organized drawer or cabinet to an entire room. Please submit your story and photos to iheartreaderspace@gmail.com, and I would heart to feature them right here on the blog!! Photos should be high resolution and unedited. Please include a description of the project, including any costs, inspiration, and how it has changed your life and routine for the better! Oh, and no worries my friends, we will NEVER judge "before" pictures because that just wouldn't be nice! Only love goes on at this blog!

My question is, where do your husbands do their work? Do you have a dedicated shop area or is it in the garage? I would love to put something together in our garage, but thats where my husband sets up shop & all this pretty & coats & bags would be covered in sawdust in no time flat. How do you keep it clean?

Good question. It wouldn't last long at my place either. It is very pretty though. Just not practical for my place. Saw dust and all the grease and such from working on the cars or other small engines like the lawn mower, snow blower, garden tiller, etc. He has more stuff in the garage than we do. It is full of all kinds of tools - saws, air compressors, impact wrenches, brad nailers, miter saws, etc. My kids have one small cabinet in the garage that has their stuff. He has too much stuff for our little garage. Thing is he uses it all. Lots of home projects here.

I agree the open storage is definitely not conducive for wood-working. We have a dust problem running our tools as well, therefore, a lot of the storage we are building in will have door fronts. Although my hubby uses the garage for larger projects, we will still need to store our boy's sporting equipment, swimming gear, outdoor toys and exterior rugs and pillows. The project above could be added to any garage, with the addition of doors on the fronts of the cubbies, you still get the storage and protect the contents from the elements at the same time. Many storage and organizing ideas can be run with and modified to fit a variety of situations. Hope that helps! xoxo!

Wow, I never imagined myself lusting after a garage! It's gorgeous. Makes me wish we had more than our detached, built in 1928, falling down, all the way across the yard garage/shack. Oh well, fun to look at the pictures!

This is gorgeous, well done! My garage is dry-walled but I get many spiders coming in the garage. I must be in the minority because I'd be nervous to keep shoes in my garage because some little spider friends may be lurking in them.

Ann, I always have the exact same concern with garage organization, even though mine is drywalled as well. I would never dare leave shoes or coats out there b/c of the spiders/crickets. I wonder if it's a regional thing - I live in the northeast.

You seriously have the most cheerful blog! I just love reading it. And this garage is so awesome! I showed my husband the pics and he pretty much salivated over them (fingers crossed for an eventually organized garage). :)

This is so pretty, but partially impractical for us. My house is only a couple years old, and the walls are drywalled. However, in the summer months bugs and spiders of course wander in. I wouldn't dare put a pair of shoes out there or use a towel, or put on a jacket from the garage. And in the winter, it's absolutely freezing. I would think most parts of the country would deal with some part of what I mentioned. But it's certainly lovely to look at!

What cheerful place, perfect for a warm weather area, great inspiration! Love everything about it. Sadly, here near Minneapolis, the garage is a pass thru area for much of the year. Boots and coats left out there rapidly freeze and the dirt factor is amazing...all the sand, salt and melting ice off the cars makes this area just a 'cold mess'. I can't wait to just CLEAN the area!! But, so fun to see this makeover... hope for warmer weather.... and I could certainly paint my door a more cheerful color! Rosie

Love all of this...so so much. Cannot wait until we move into a larger house with larger design so we can do something like this. The only problem I have is in MN we have so much slushy nastiness that gets pulled into the garage by the cars or boots that I'd worry about it getting all messed up but I'd still do it!

I've always wanted to do this in our garage. however, questions...1) How on earth do you keep the bugs out of your shoes (or mice for that matter - we live on a farm)...2) We live in the midwest and it's freezing every winter. Is it horrific putting on cold clothes in teh winter?

Living in a very cold climate, I can relate to your questions. I have always wanted outdoor cubbies for boots and jackets, however, it just doesn't make sense to store clothing outdoors where it will freeze in-between uses. However, this system could still work for storing other gear and supplies in the garage, or could be implemented indoors space permitting.

Jen, agreed...I think we cold climate people can sit back and drool at the prettiness of it, ooo and ahh over the outdoor clothing storage, and then modify it for other types of storage that wouldn't mind the cold. Unfortunately, I don't have room for a cubby system inside - I sure wish I did! ;)

Beautiful garage! But I just can't imagine how this would work at my house. Where are all of the tools, the lawn mower, blower, rakes, shovels, four bicycles, four sets of golf clubs, etc.! That's what is filling up my garage! Don't know what to do to make it look pretty!

If you go to Amanda's blog, you can see she has a long stretch of (pretty) utility shelving that holds a lot of the tools, coolers, etc. when you look at the wider-angle pictures of the whole garage. Even if you can't devote as much space in your own garage to the locker storage above, a small run of cabinetry like this will go a looong way to making a garage more functional. And pretty!! Thanks so much for sharing such a gorgeous and functional space!

Thank you so much for taking a moment to join in the conversation! I read and sincerely appreciate each and every comment, however, I will remove any comment that I believe to be inappropriate, malicious or spam like. I would love for this comment section to be used as a place to engage in purposeful dialogue, and criticism/feedback is best received when shared constructively. This blog is my happy slice of the internet, let's keep it that way!